Saturday, June 10, 2017

Marketing: Individual Reflection



Individual Reflection 1

The purpose of this Individual Reflection is to provide a summary that will address the following:
a)  What did you learn from reading the posts of your classmates regarding factors that are important to them when eating a light meal in a restaurant, and the description of their lunches? Did you find many similarities, or very diverse preferences?
b)  Did you view similarities in the survey questions? What questions would result in better information?
c)  Provide a very brief recommendation to the BC Ferries Food Services Manager regarding what information you believe should be the goal of a survey of passengers.

a) Food Factors and Lunch.

            Everyone’s first and most important food factor was different. My first food factor was health. Others were taste, ingredients, price, appetite, and value. This difference in food factor priority can be influenced by one’s personality, lifestyle, health-consciousness, personal budget, and sensation of flavor just to name a few. Also, everyone’s second, third, fourth and fifth factors were very diverse. However, I did find some similarities. I found that health-conscious individuals were very similar in their choice of main food groups which were primarily vegetables and fruits. Another similarity I found was on price, size, and value. These three factors, in my opinion are interrelated in that everyone likes a decent size of valuable meal at a reasonable price.

            Individual lunches were from medium to heavy in size and with great deal of variety in composition. Some had meat, fish, sandwich, and burrito as their main dish. Most had fruits in their dessert. I noticed also some people make food choices for lunch based on the planned activities for the day or the events that took place the night before.

b) Survey Questions.

            I found many similarities in the survey questions. There were three questions that appeared the most. These were:
            1) What is the most important food factor that influences your choice of a light meal?
            2) What price do you consider affordable for a light meal?
            3) Question on the availability and pricing of healthy meals.

            I believe that the three questions mentioned above would result in better information because they bring about people’s innermost emotion or intellect that is responsible for influencing decisions in choosing meals. Furthermore, the questions provide an effective way to listen to customers and gather relevant information. The restaurants in turn can use the information to serve the needs of customers while gaining profit in the process of fulfilling those needs.

c) Recommendations to the BC Ferries Food Services Manager.

            I recommend three things which I believe should be the top goals of a BC Ferries food survey: influence, health, and price.

            To determine what influences a customer to make a decision on choice of food is what I believe to be the first goal of a food survey. For example, if the taste of the food is what matters most to the customers, then the management can focus on improving food preparation, ingredients, way of cooking, and other contributing factors that would create a flavorful and delicious taste that would appeal to customers.

            Health is wealth, as the wise saying goes. Eating healthy means preventing diseases, thereby saving money that would be spent on treating those diseases. If BC Ferries really care for their passengers’ health, then great emphasis should be on the availability of healthier food choices in their restaurants.

            Price affordability is important because customers are looking for a fair value for their money and ensuring that what they are paying for will fit reasonably in their budget. Healthier organic food is more expensive but if BC Ferries can make it more affordable, then it will be an excellent way of expressing gratitude to their passengers and helping out in the campaign for environmentally friendly means of growing food.


No comments:

Post a Comment